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May 29, 2009

If that's how people are describing it nowadays. It sounds very junior high to me: I can't fill in whatever random activity here because (whispering with eyes darting side to side) I have my period.

I mean to say I'm menstruating.

I used to have very few side effects with menstruation. My period would come and it would go, no problem. No cramps, no headaches, no backaches, no problems.

I started taking the pill when I was 19. I took it right up until I decided to try to get pregnant with my first baby. After Buddy was born I went back on the pill and, for the first time, it was all about the side effects. It made me dry, you know, (shhh...) down there and it killed my libido (which takes away the whole point of being on the pill in the first place). I talked to my Doctor and she switched me to a lower dose pill and the side effects mostly went away.

Then, after I had Monkey I went back on the pill again and started having migraines. The fist one was horrible. For days I was incapacitated with extreme dizziness. I threw up. I threw up again. I tried lying in bed, but every time I closed my eyes the room would tilt. So I tried not to close my eyes. Light and sound were painful. When I stood up the dizziness would make me vomit. I was a mess. I finally asked Hubby to drive me to the emergency room.

At the hospital they told me I had a migraine and they prescribed super-pain killers. These were pills that were meant for arthritis sufferers, but which were also effective for migraines. I took a pill and half an hour later I felt better. I was very lightheaded, but the pain was gone. The sudden lack of pain made me feel euphoric, it was such a relief.

It took us awhile to figure out that the migraines coincided each month with the week-long break on the 28day cycle pill. When the drugstore suddenly started running out of my brand of pill my doctor prescribed a slightly stronger version. I filled the prescription, but couldn't bring myself to take it. I talked to Hubby and told him I didn't want to keep taking it. He agreed and I stopped taking the pill.

I haven't had a migraine since. Not one.

But since then I've had side effects with my period. I get depressed for a few days before it starts. I mean deeply sad, energy-less, uninterested in the things that would usually interest me: depressed. All I want to do is sit very still and possibly, in my more active moments, stare at stuff. As soon as my period actually starts, I'm fine - back to my usually fairly cheerful self. Those few days, though, are miserable.

My period started this morning. I'm feeling fine emotionally after a few days of feeling heartbroken.

Aren't we just BLESSED sometimes to be women? I have mine now and I am definitely not having fun except when I am eating chocolate. Lots of Vitamin B complex really helps if you take it the last 2 weeks of your cycle. And I have friends who swear by Pamprin - really!

We actually mark on the calendar here when Mommy's in PMS mode. It's turned into a not so friendly time of the month : ) But if everyone is prepared well in advance then all is well and no one gets hurt : )

Man, I could have written this. I stopped taking the pill after my oldest 17 years ago because of the extreme headaches. Some days it's the chocolate cake some days I could use a salt lick on the table...LOL

I'm just stopping by from SITS. I can totally relate to this post. I swear I'm two completely different people for about two weeks each month. Horrifying PMS, and then my period comes, and it's just happy happy!

As a fellow migraine sufferer, I sympathize! At least you figured it out. The PMS stuff I've noticed seems to get worse with age? Or subsequent pregnancies? I'm not really sure which it is. But my 30s are definitely harder on me than my 20s! And in my teens, I thought PMS was something Roseanne made up!